Drew producing ahead of schedule

ST. LOUIS -- J.D. Drew is well on his way to conquering the injury that forced Cardinals teammate Mark McGwire out of baseball.

It's been about six weeks since Drew was activated from the 15-day disabled list following offseason surgery to correct chronic patella tendinitis in his right knee. After a slow start he's playing more, resting less and contributing plenty to spark an offense that has stalled a bit recently.

Drew has homered in each of the last two games, including his second blast of the year off the scoreboard in right field. He's also playing right field with more agility and flexibility.

"Where it's at now, I'm playing a lot earlier than expected," Drew said. "I'm going to continue to push and play and see how it goes."

McGwire had the same surgery on the same knee after the 2000 season, and was never the same. He finally retired following a frustrating 2001, limping into the sunset.

Drew feels Big Mac's pain.

"That ran McGwire out of the game," Drew said. "He couldn't come back from it. I'm fortunate to play a day and feel good the next day."

But McGwire was 38 when he quit and Drew, a former first-round draft pick, is only 27 and still holds much promise.

"He is a tremendous talent," Pittsburgh Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He makes everything look effortless.

"He has great gap-to-gap speed and I like to watch him run the bases."

Knowing the track record from McGwire's surgery, the Cardinals put no pressure on Drew to try to get ready for the season opener. The earliest estimate was May, and they also tossed out June as a possibility for his return.

Drew made it back well ahead of schedule on April 20, although his progress was halting for a while. He's played in consecutive games only five times, but appears to be rounding into form with starts in four of the last five games.

Both he and the Cardinals believe Drew will be in the lineup on an everyday basis by around the All-Star break.

"He's right on for that," trainer Barry Weinberg said. "He probably exceeded our expectations during the course of May."

Early on, Drew did a good job of blocking out complaints of casual fans who griped that his pain threshold wasn't sufficient, and that he only had a sore knee.

"They don't know what he's going through," general manager Walt Jocketty said. "He's been playing on one knee the last year-and-a-half.

"With that type of surgery there's a real specific track record and we wanted to treat him conservatively, and he's actually back sooner than a lot of people thought he would have been. The days he's been able to play, he's been very productive."

Drew knows he's ahead of the game, no matter what any of the outsiders think.

"I didn't expect to be back really until June 1," he said. "That's what they told me all along: shoot for June.

"Sometimes the frustrating part is wanting to do more and you really can't because if I do something stupid I'm going to set myself way back."

Drew has been adding a lot of punch to the top of a lineup adjusting to the loss of leadoff hitter Fernando Vina lately. On Saturday, his homer off the scoreboard was estimated at 457 feet. On Sunday, he flicked an outside delivery from the Pirates' Josh Fogg over the left-field wall.

In 92 at-bats, he's batting .337 with six homers and 16 RBIs. He also has four doubles and a pair of triples and has been the team's best pinch-hitter going 5-for-10 with a homer and three RBIs.

On Saturday, he and Pirates first baseman Kevin Young bumped knees, and he limped around for a few minutes after the accidental collision. But he doesn't foresee any problems.

"It's right where I had the surgery," he said. "It isn't going to set me back or anything, but it definitely will make that thing sore."

He's really looking forward to next season, when the knee injury should be just a memory. Doctors have told Drew he should be completely back to normal with rest following the season.

"I think next year in spring training I'll come back and say 'Man, this is what it's all about,"' Drew said. "I can't wait for that."